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Irfan Shamji: the Rada student discovered by Kenneth Branagh to star in Hamlet with Tom Hiddleston

The actor talks about how he was turned from homeless student to Murder on the Orient Express

Sarah Crompton

Things are looking up: Shamji as Laertes and Kathryn Wilder as OpheliaJOHAN PERSSON

The Sunday Times, November 12 2017, 12:01am

‘Being around Tom and Ken — it makes you think about what is possible,” Irfan Shamji says quietly, with a half-smile. “It makes you hungry for more.”

Irfan Shamji. You haven’t heard the name, but you might be hearing it more. He was the Rada student chosen by Kenneth Branagh to play Laertes in his fundraising version of Hamlet in September, opposite the Hollywood star Tom Hiddleston as the sweet prince. Which was why Shamji spent his last few weeks at the famous school for actors rubbing shoulders with “Tom and Ken”.

“We had to keep it secret for a while, then it all exploded,” says the 23-year-old, with that tentative smile again. “It got overwhelming when the show actually started, and everyone on Twitter…

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